A scarred Matthew Morrow whose angry mum Alison is demanding answers from the council over her son’s

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Matthew Morrow, 12, was playing football at the Sheerwater Community Centre, Blackmore Crescent, on May 14 when he ran into a vandalised section of fencing. The wiring caught his mouth, ripping a large gash across his face and sending him into shock. Matthew was taken to St Peter’s Hospital and later transferred to a specialist unit at Ashford Hospital. He has undergone painful treatment and, despite healing well, Matthew has been left both physically and emotionally scarred. The vandalised fencing had been exposed for three weeks before the accident and Matthew’s mother, Alison, heads a growing number of residents outraged that the incident could have been allowed to happen in the first place. She said: “It’s frightening. If the wiring was a couple of inches lower then it would have gone straight through his neck. It has left Matthew very self-conscious and he doesn’t go out to see people now. “If it was regularly maintained then it would have been fixed three weeks before Matthew’s accident. I can’t believe it takes something like this to bring things to a head. “The council need to take responsibility and make the area safe and keep it properly maintained.” Barry Pope, councillor for Maybury and Sheerwater, is angry at Woking Borough Council’s response and the remedial action taken at the scene of the accident. Contractors came the next day and put warning tape across the wire. It took a further two weeks before the fence was repaired and the hazard removed. Mr Pope stands alongside Mrs Morrow in demanding that action is taken to improve maintenance levels. He said: “Areas like Sheerwater need to be maintained closely. The council should be highlighting those areas and ensuring a better response to public concerns.” Vandalism to safety mats and children’s play equipment is a major problem around the Sheerwater Community Centre and goes hand-in-hand with the debris which lines the recreation areas. Glass, rubbish and even syringes are just a few of the things which John Lyle, manager of the under-12 Sheerwater Predators football team, collects before he will allow his team on the pitches. He said: “There are smashed bottles and needles out there and I make sure they’re gone before practice.” Addressing residents concerns over the council’s response to safety issues, Dave Ward, the borough council’s head of environmental services, said: “As soon as an environmental maintenance incident is reported, Serco is instructed to inspect the area and make it safe immediately. “Every effort is then made to complete the repair in the shortest possible time.” In response to the incident at the community centre, a spokesman for the borough council said: “This incident has been brought to our attention and we are currently investigating it.”